Here I was in Sao Paulo yesterday doing the work that most romanticize, some demonize, and the reality of which few would recognize. I was in a taxi returning from a failed quest to find cheddar cheese when I looked out the window and what did I see? Brilliant black and white posters shouting “Therion – Outubro 26.”

An immediate aside: Roughly one month ago, I happened upon a new music option of which I had previously been completely unaware. Variously called “romantic death metal,” “melodic doom,” and “symphonic black metal,” the sub-genre mixes crunching heavy metal bass, guitar, and drums with operatic vocals, pseudo-classical piano, violin, cello, and even, at times, oboe. It differentiates itself from mainstream death metal – for which I have little-to-no fondness – partly by replacing the shouted, gruff, satanic vocal style with angelic, choral, and often female beautifulness. The violin/cello interludes – especially those coupled with a background of…